History and development of vision impaired shooting

Today's post is probably of greatest interest to those either new to vision impaired shooting or have only seen it a number of years ago. I intend to give a little bit of history of vision impaired shooting and how it has developed over the years.

Firstly a quick summary of how someone with impaired vision shoots. The vision impaired shooter uses the same equipment as would a sighted air rifle shooter, with the one change where the standard sights are replaced with an electronic device which produces via headphones an audio signal to indicate the point of aim. The shooter also has a sighted assistant who may help the shooter locate the correct target and provide details such as where a shot hit the target. For more details please see this page about vision impaired shooting.

Back when I started shooting, around 22 years ago, the aiming device was quite different to the current system. The old Swarovski ZE-B618 was a light based system, where the target was the reverse of the normal target, it required a white centre and a black surround. It also required the target to be illuminated by a 50W halogen lamp. The sound produced by this equipment could be affected by many factors, the quality of the target, the brightness of the lamp and even other light sources such as sunshine through windows in the room. The general view at the time was that an air pistol sized target was the most appropriate target for vision impaired shooters.

Due to me starting shooting at a young age and the equipment available at my school's shooting club, I shot with the rifle supported on a rest. This is how the majority of vision impaired shooters were shooting then and many still do shoot using the support rest. However there were a few who were shooting in the conventional standing position without any additional support for the rifle. Soon after Holwell Rifle Club obtained the aiming equipment for vision impaired shooting in 2005, I started to shoot in the conventional standing position without the support rest.

The scores being achieved back in 2005 were much lower than they are now. For a vision impaired shooter shooting in the conventional standing position, the highest score achieved in competition was 570 integer score on an air pistol target. Over the years the standard has improved, to a point where I could achieve a 600 integer on air pistol targets. However in 2014 I could tell that internationally it was likely that there would be a changed to air rifle sized targets for vision impaired shooting, so with support from my shooting club I started to enter local leagues shooting against sighted shooters using air rifle targets. At this point I felt my shooting really could be compared against any other air rifle shooter.

Due to the target requirements of the Swarovski aiming device, it was difficult for me to get permission to go to any standard shooting competition. However once the newer digital aiming devices started to become available the situation began to change. The newer digital aiming devices only require a battery powered infrared LED to be placed near the target. Also these systems are not affected by differences in lighting condition in the shooting range. This makes it much simpler for competition organisers as the only alteration needed to let me shoot is to place the LED near the target. I remember the comment of how simple it was from the organisers of my first competition with sighted shooters.

Vision impaired shooting has really come a long way since vision impaired shooting of yesteryears and I now feel I can be treated like any other shooter. So when you watch me shoot this weekend, remember I am doing everything the same as all the other shooters, the only difference is I am using my ears instead of my eyes.

New shooting suit

It may have been some time since I last posted, however I am still doing shooting. Before getting on to 2019, a post about something which happened at the very end of last year. I got a new shooting jacket and trousers from Mouche.

My old shooting jacket and trousers, I got second hand back in about 2011, and whilst it had been altered, it had just got to a point where it was not fitting me well. Unusually for shooting clothes it appears mine had grown, there was just too much material for it to give any good amount of support. With the World Championships coming up in October 2019, it felt like it would be a good time to change it.

Having heard good things from other members at my shooting club about their Mouche jackets and trousers, mid December found me on a flight out to Germany. As I was not going to arrive until about lunch time, the first day consisted mainly of being measured, getting an initial fit on the jacket and selecting the colours. The measuring process was thorough, but being carried out efficiently by Ursula it did not take too long, so giving me and my coach some time to explore the town and get some food. When we returned later in the afternoon, there was an initial version of the base part of the jacket to try for fit. My first impression was how different it felt to my old shooting jacket, which made it difficult for me to know what felt right or wrong. As for selecting the colours, a job I never know how to approach as not being able to see the colours means I will not be able to form my own views without influence from others. There was one thing I knew I wanted, it should be easy for people to spot me and it should be quite distinct. After a bit of discussion we settled on the colours and there was nothing more for me to do that day.

The next morning when I returned, the trousers were ready for some initial fitting. Again how strange it felt in comparison to my old shooting trousers, but I think I was getting used to the idea it was going to feel a lot tighter. Unfortunately for me there was not going to be quite enough of one of the colours to do my original design, so time to decide upon an alternative colour scheme. Once that was done, again time to let work be done on finishing the jacket and trousers, so I went of with my coach in search of a Christmas market, but we were too early as it was due to start that weekend.

Later that day when I returned the suit was nearly complete and time for the final fitting. Also time to try it in both the standing and prone positions. I think now I was starting to notice the support I was getting from the new suit and what my old suit was lacking. This was also a changce for my coach to see how it all was looking on me. A few more tweaks and it was all done and ready for me to take home.

Once home, I eagerly awaited my first training session with my new suit. Although feeling different to what I was used to, everything seemed to be good. Unfortunately with Christmas and new year, along with some refurbishment at my shooting club, it meant I then had a break of a few weeks after my first week of using the new suit. When I resumed shooting after the new year, I must have forgotten how the new suit felt as it took me a bit of time to get comfortable with my shooting again. However since then I have got more comfortable with my shooting and am really pleased with my new shooting kit.

Some additional thoughts on prone

It has been brought to my attention the matter of whether one should contact the table with the body. Well in the photos in the previous post you may be able to make out that I am contacting the table. Officially though IBSA say in the rules that the body should be separated.

So you may wonder why do I do the prone with the body contacting the table? The answer is that it simply does not fit with any other idea of prone to have the body separated. If one were to do the normal prone position they would have the body in contact with the floor or a shooting mat, well the table in the seated position becomes the shooters floor. This is also the approach the IPC have taken.

In another way I also feel it does not make much sense for the shooter to keep the body separate, if one were to do that then what is the difference of doing prone and kneeling? It turns out very little for a shooter who keeps one position as the only differences are the right elbow not contacting the table for kneeling and the left elbow being restricted to a 10cm diameter circle. So if one keeps a fairly constant position in prone then the 10cm diameter circle thing will not be a difference and how much of a difference does just lifting the right elbow make? I feel probably not as much as going between the standard prone and kneeling positions.

I do not know whether IBSA will change things regarding this, but I intend to stick with doing the prone as shown in the previous post with the body contacting the table.

VI prone shooting

Well I notice that last year I said I would keep you informed about the other shooting positions available for the vision impaired, but it seems like I had not actually got round to providing any information. As I have been doing prone for the last three weeks, now is the time to change that with this post on the prone position.

For those who don't know about the way IBSA specify vision impaired shooters do the prone and kneeling positions, well its done from a seated position at a table. For those who know about other types of shooting, the prone position is a bit like benchrest without the rest, or a bit like the way IPC disabled shooters do prone. However there are still a few differences from those descriptions.

Firstly the equipment used. The table used, according to IBSA should be between 70cm and 90cm. Also the table may have a cut away in the corner where the shooter sits, this helps provide somewhere for the shooter to put the right elbow. At my shooting club we are just using one of the tables used for benchrest. The seat used by the shooter is a stool, so no arms or back to the seat. The only other equipment is a handstop on the rifle. It is worth noting that for some reason IBSA rules say no slings are to be used although slings would normally be permitted for IPC shooters. While mentioning differences from IPC shooting, IBSA have decided to allow normal ISSF approved shooting jackets rather than IPC jackets, however the shooter must only use the top button on the jacket in prone.

The position above the table top is meant to closely resemble the prone position, so both elbows on the table. The left hand holds the rifle a long way forward, the handstop is there to stop the hand sliding forward. As for the right arm, the elbow probably wants to be on the bit of the table which sticks out to the right of the shooter.

As one is allowed to rest the rifle on a stand between shots, well why not make use of one so as to minimise the amount of movement one has to make. If using a stand between shots, just be careful you make sure you are properly clear of it when shooting, having the rifle resting on it may make it easier but may also not be permitted.

My feeling is that once one has got a reasonable position, then doing prone is quite comfortable and enjoyable. I have included a few photos showing me doing the prone last week, they may help you in understanding the position.

Report on British Championships

Well the British Championships finished today. It was good to be there, some interesting conversations and the demonstration of crossbow was also interesting.

Firstly the competition itself. I feel a little disappointed with my score of 590 out of a possible 600, of course in free standing. I think I had been hoping to improve on last year's score, however it was still good enough to win. As I said in an earlier post the lack of anyone from Aberdeen did mean the free standing was a bit low on numbers and so the scores were very spread, second place was down in the 540s so were not really posing much of a challenge to me, probably why its not feeling a great achievement to me.

Supported through up a number of surprises. Well done to Lee from Hereford for winning the supported with 597, particularly good as he is fairly new into the sport. Also well done to him for breaking a long standing junior record I had set a good number of years ago. I just hope Lee will keep going with the shooting. A bit of a surprise from Carole Brown getting 589, very surprising that it still was good enough for second place.

Now to some of the matters which were interesting. Blackburn Rifle Club had come with a crossbow for people to try out shooting crossbow. Having a go with that is the first time I have tried shooting anything but an air rifle. It was an interesting experience, you certainly can feel some recoil on the crossbow and you need to try and keep the follow through much more than you can get away with for air rifle. I don't think I will be taking up the crossbow as a major part of my shooting at the moment, it may be useful to try and improve my trigger/follow through technique which does need improving.

Finally it was good to talk with John from Blackburn Rifle Club and Liz from the disabled shooting project. We covered all sorts of things, possible other disciplines one could try and do, the state of the rules, ways of increasing competitions, my project for my Open University course and other things. On other disciplines I have now at least some ideas on possible things to look at for air pistol, something I really would like to do as it would certainly reduce the baggage when travelling to competitions.

Its been a good day, however long and tiring with that early start I needed to make to get to Wolverhampton in time for my detail. Hopefully if those discussions lead to anything then I will be writing about those developments here.

Upcoming British Championships

Well the British Championships are coming up this weekend. At the moment I don't have a huge amount to say on the topic. I am slightly disappointed that nobody from Aberdeen is going to be able to be there, they normally offer some of the best competition in the free standing event. Also I know that some people are a bit annoyed with the way the sport is being run and as the AGM is held at the competition there may be some interesting discussions in the AGM.

This year is the first year where I have decided not to enter in the stand assisted event, it was a decision made last year that I should really focus on my free standing particularly if I intend to compete internationally. As I will only be competing in the free standing, I think this is the reason I am so disappointed that nobody is entering from Aberdeen. It can be nice just to know that there is someone who is actually competing against you, keeping you on your toes. My main focus I think is to improve on what I did last year and so hopefully set a new British record.